CASTRIES, St. Lucia, July 5, CMC – St Lucia is the latest of nine Caribbean nations to receive a new wave of assistance from the US government to help intercept drug transhipments destined for US shores.

In a 1.59 million US dollar aid package, US Ambassador Larry Palmer presented to Prime Minister Kenny Anthony two 10.8-metre, high-speed interceptor boats, a pick-up truck, communication equipment and training.

Experts have long seen the comparatively tiny police and coast guard units in the Eastern Caribbean as a weak line of defence against the steady flow of drugs and arms from South American through the region to the southern US.

Caribbean leaders have repeatedly urged the US to shoulder more of the burden in the war on illegal drugs and firearms, arguing that narco-traffickers’ response to drug demand in the US threatened the national security of the region’s islands and coastal states.